The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing : Ware, Bronnie

The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing : Ware, Bronnie

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The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing Paperback – 6 August 2019
by Bronnie Ware (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 3,632 ratings
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Revised edition of the best-selling memoir that has been read by over a million people worldwide with translations in 29 languages.

After too many years of unfulfilling work, Bronnie Ware began searching for a job with heart. Despite having no formal qualifications or previous experience in the field, she found herself working in palliative care. During the time she spent tending to those who were dying, Bronnie's life was transformed. Later, she wrote an Internet blog post, outlining the most common regrets that the people she had cared for had expressed. The post gained so much momentum that it was viewed by more than three million readers worldwide in its first year. At the request of many, Bronnie subsequently wrote a book, 

The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, to share her story.

Bronnie has had a colourful and diverse life. By applying the lessons of those nearing their death to her own life, she developed an understanding that it is possible for everyone, if we make the right choices, to die with peace of mind.

In this revised edition of the best-selling memoir that has been read by over a million people worldwide, with translations in 29 languages, Bronnie expresses how significant these regrets are and how we can positively address these issues while we still have the time. The Top Five Regrets of the Dying gives hope for a better world. It is a courageous, life-changing book that will leave you feeling more compassionate and inspired to live the life you are truly here to live.
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Print length

320 pages
Review
"This book had a profound effect on my life."
- DR. WAYNE W. DYER

'Bronnie's work is a gift to the world. Her revelations on living regret-free are a continued source of inspiration. They fuel me to stay focused on what truly matters most.'
- Marie Forleo, creator of MarieTV and author of Everything Is Figureoutable
Book Description
Revised edition of the best-selling memoir that has been read by over a million people worldwide with translations in 29 languages.

About the Author
Bronnie Ware an author, an inspirational speaker, songwriter and mama to her daughter, Elena. Bronnie lives in northern New South Wales, Australia. Her favourite role is as a mother. Her favourite teacher is nature. Bronnie is also a teacher of courage and a great advocate for leaving space to breathe. To learn more about Bronnie, regret-free living, and to join her online family through her mailing list, visit- www.bronnieware.com

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hay House (6 August 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 3,632 ratings

Bronnie Ware


Bronnie Ware is the author of the internationally bestselling memoir The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, published in 32 languages, with a movie in the pipeline. She has published three non-fiction books that have inspired thousands around the globe and is currently working on some inspiring fictional works.

She is a TEDx speaker and has been interviewed by Wall St Journal, ABC Radio National, Marie Forleo, The Guardian, Dr Wayne Dyer, The Sunday Times, Lewis Howes, Harvard Business Review, and hundreds of publications worldwide.

Bronnie lives in rural Australia and is a respected teacher of courage on the global stage. She is also a passionate advocate for simplicity and leaving space to breathe, drawing on courage to follow the heart and allowing life to provide the shortcuts.

To find out more about Bronnie’s books and teachings, visit bronnieware.com








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Top reviews from Australia


Anthony
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best reads EVERReviewed in Australia on 26 July 2023
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This was truly a life changing read. By far one of the best books I have ever picked up. Sure a couple of the things in the book were obvious or things I had heard before, but I appreciated the different perspectives and the detail provided in those instances. There were so many good points and lessons throughout the whole book, not only from those passing, but also from the authors own life experiences and struggles. This made it even easier to understand the concepts and begin to relate one's own life to some of these frameworks. I also really loved how easy this was to read, the authors style of writing seemed very honest and easy to understand. I'm going to be encouraging the people I love to read this book. I will also be checking out the authors other books. Thank you so much for touching and changing my life Bronnie.



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KJ
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book.Reviewed in Australia on 8 March 2023
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I would highly recommend this book to anyone. Since I read it I have brought extra copies to give as gifts.



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Candice Seretin
5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provokingReviewed in Australia on 30 November 2021
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I loved the stories and experiences with each person and the love she shared with each person on their deathbed.It was thought provoking and lots of tears were shed and moments of laughter while reading this book. Thank you for a great story.



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Anup
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful bookReviewed in Australia on 2 July 2022
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Meaningful and real life examples



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Jess
4.0 out of 5 stars Good in theoryReviewed in Australia on 4 September 2018
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I love parts of the book and other parts I think don’t really need to be there.
The lessons are great. Could be shortened and made more punchy. The writers style is a bit slower and more descriptive especially towards the end.
Enjoyable and good lessons but can be a little slow with some repetitive bits. X



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Fluffynymph
2.0 out of 5 stars Misleading title.Reviewed in Australia on 1 February 2021
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This book does not have the dying as its main topic. 

It is an autobiography where the author is using thoughts of her dying clients as framework. Unfortunately the emphasis is on what a nice kind person she is. In the second half I skipped the parts about her own life, as it was the dying I was interested in. I am terminal myself, and there’s very little written about it. I was hoping to learn something about dying.

8 people found this helpful


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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars The subject matter is really interesting - the skill to listen and the gift to allow one to be heard never ceases to amaze. SheReviewed in Australia on 18 April 2016
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Bronnie writes with such freshness and honesty. She has an unassuming flair; no airs and graces; says it as she sees it, lived it. The subject matter is really interesting - the skill to listen and the gift to allow one to be heard never ceases to amaze. She does it effortlessly and with compassion, care and with a sense of astonishing empathy. The book is very hard not to like. It's even harder not to like Bronnie.

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SA
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful bookReviewed in Australia on 23 November 2021
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Thoroughly enjoyed this and I dont read a lot!



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Top reviews from other countries

M Singaravel
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read!Reviewed in India on 9 June 2023
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If you do not wish to die with a regret as your last thought. please read this.
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Ayushi Srivastava
4.0 out of 5 stars LESSONSReviewed in India on 14 April 2023
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Motivational 👍🏻
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Biju Varghese
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing bookReviewed in India on 1 May 2023
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An absolute one of a kind book of personal wisdom. Excellent narrative and great sharing of knowledge through personal experience. Highly recommended.
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Well wisher
5.0 out of 5 stars BookReviewed in India on 1 May 2023
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Great insights. Touches the soul
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RAJAN MALIK
5.0 out of 5 stars A must readReviewed in India on 24 March 2023
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A must read
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Eric Mayforth

5.0 out of 5 stars Live a Life That You Will Not Regret

Reviewed in the United States on 29 December 2019

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The end of a year is a common time to take stock—especially so this year as we embark on a new decade this Wednesday. Depending on your age, you have more or fewer opportunities to make changes and improvements at such a time. Australian author Bronnie Ware worked as a caregiver for the dying, and the people she cared for knew that there would be no new years or decades for them. They had to come to terms with what had happened in their lives that they wished hadn't, or what hadn't happened that they wished had. Ware shares their stories in "The Top Five Regrets of the Dying."

Ware realized that many of the same regrets came up over and over from those she cared for. They are:

* "I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me."

* "I wish I hadn't worked so hard."

* "I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings."

* "I wish I'd stayed in touch with my friends."

* "I wish I'd let myself be happier."

The elderly that Ware cared for make many recommendations to the reader, including resolving family conflicts to the extent that is possible, taking care of your health so you can live life to the fullest, striking a balance where money and simplicity are concerned, looking at every day as a gift, maintaining a sense of self, and realizing that your life is your own and not someone else's. One affluent woman envied her daughter's having the courage to live the way she wanted to against the opinions of society. Another one of Ware's charges regretted being married to a controlling spouse and not traveling to other regions or countries.

The stories in "Top Five Regrets" are moving and the book is well worth reading. It implores the reader, especially young readers, to realize that what you think you will regret when you are young is not what you will eventually come to regret at some point on the road from 25 and 75 and to order your life so that your regrets are fewer when it comes time to die.

21 people found this helpful

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Brad

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed feelings

Reviewed in the United States on 7 December 2011

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I had high hopes for this book. The concept really appealed to me. Unfortunately though, I just didn't feel like the concept was very well executed. Don't get me wrong, there's some really great parts in it but I just feel like it fell short of my expectations. I just felt like there was WAY too much storytelling about the authors own personal life and not enough tales from the lives of those who were spending their last days on this earth. I would say it's about 75% about the author's life and 25% about the people who were about to pass on. The author's personal stories are usually tied into the lessons she learned from the dying patients she cared for, but still I wanted to hear more about the lives of the patients themselves.

The author's stories about herself are interesting. She obviously has lead a very free and interesting life, but constantly hearing about it loses it's appeal after a while. I was hoping to gain insight and wisdom from the people who were seeing life from their last days. I did get a portion of that, but not nearly as much as I had hoped. Strangely, a lot of the words of wisdom came from the author, which is fine I suppose, but that's not quite what I bought the book for.

Also, the end of the book got really self indulgent in my opinion. I was really feeling like giving the book 4 stars until I neared the end. There's a small portion in those last chapters that summarize her days and lessons learned with her patients, but the last 20% or so of the book is very long winded story telling of her own trials and tribulations through depression and her days as a songwriting instructor at a women's prison. I just didn't get what the point of all that content was. It didn't seem to tie in with the theme of the book at all. I kind of got the impression that the end was simply a need to fill pages to meet a quota by the way it rambled on and on. It really soured my opinion of the book as a whole.

At any rate, the book has high points and low points. It has 5 star rating material and 1 star rating material. I decided to split the difference and rank it as 3 stars overall. It's worth reading but I wouldn't recommend spending a lot of money on it. I'm glad I bought the $10 kindle version and not the $30 paper copy!

264 people found this helpful

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From other countries

Ronald K. Pendleton

5.0 out of 5 stars Living and Dying Without Regrets

Reviewed in the United States on 6 June 2012

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It has been some time since I have been moved to write a review, perhaps being too busy trying to clarify relationships I have had with others before my own passing, but Bronnie Ware's book "The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing" has moved me so deeply that I feel compelled to recommend it to everyone I know; family, friends, lovers and past lovers, even the students in the university courses I teach (my students are either already teachers or are preparing to become teachers). Unfortunately, circumstances prevent me from recommending it to the person I would most like to recommend it to. That person is Valery, with whom I spent ten beautiful and life affirming months during a period shortly after I had just been diagnosed with a stage four cancer. I was 68 years old at that time and Valery was the first person with whom I had ever been able to let down all of my defenses and truly open my heart. She, who was only 43 then, expressed the same feelings about me. We had never met before that time and although we lived over 3000 miles apart and only actually saw one another on six brief occasions during that time, we sent e-mail to each other every day (over 1500 e-mails filled with poetry, music and stories of things that were and things that might yet be) and we came to accept, believe in and love both ourselves and one another unconditionally. Through unfortunate circumstances we were torn apart and are now no longer even in contact with one another. For the past two and a half years, my path has been looking deeply into myself, my heart and soul, to see what I have learned from everything that happened; the ten phantasmagorical months in which we discovered and created our own beautiful truth, the unfortunate circumstances that tore us apart, and the past two and half years of awakening and claiming my own truth as it continues to evolve. I do not regret anything that happened, but I am sad that Valery seems to be in a place now where, in order to survive, she appears compelled to deny the love we expressed to one another and play out a different set of scripts. Before I die, I would like to reconnect with her, at least long enough for both of us to share what we learned from all of that so that we will not die, whenever that time may come for each of us, with any regrets about anything that has happened. So I am writing this now to send out into cyberspace in the hope that anyone reading it who may know Valery will tell her what her "father" has written in this review and about Bronnie's beautiful book.

12 people found this helpful

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Sahassapol

4.0 out of 5 stars A tragic look into those who gave their lives away.

Reviewed in the United States on 27 January 2023

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Love the message the author conveys, your life is in your hands. Sharing the experience of those who were moments from the last gasp further cements the message.

However, some of the parts, just little bit of it, are a little drawn out. Anyway the book is excellent!

2 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice book, last chapters not good

Reviewed in the United States on 28 January 2023

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I liked most of the stories, but the last chapters are just not good, falling to depression and the self kitty just made me almost stop reading it.

2 people found this helpful

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Sanjay Kumar Jena

4.0 out of 5 stars A must read

Reviewed in India on 16 September 2022

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A must read book to live our life today. It's about many things from how friends are important, how quality time spending with family is important, and many more.

2 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

5.0 out of 5 stars We should follow her advice!

Reviewed in the United States on 29 May 2023

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Excellent read!

One person found this helpful

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Pacharan

1.0 out of 5 stars Je ne regrette rien - except spending money on this nonsense

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 May 2017

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Oh dear, where to start? This isn't the usual type of book I read, I had to buy this for book club. Now, I don't mind having my literary horizons stretched. But this is just dreadful, from beginning to end. I am going to need a whole bucket of Prosecco to get through the discussion....

1) The writing is appalling. Truly awful. Sentence structure, punctuation, meaning, all garbled, or missing, or battered senseless in the stream of consciousness style.

2) The book is not about the dying. It's about Bronnie. Be prepared to hear a LOT about Bronnie, her life and her view of the universe, in which the sun shines out of her smug empathetic behind and the rest of the planets revolve entirely around her. Actually Bronnie should try looking up the definitions of "empathy" and "sympathy"because I think she has them rather confused. "Empathy" is putting yourself in someone else's shoes, not wittering on endlessly about how stuff makes YOU feel. The dying are just bit-part players, simply useful vehicles sent to assist Bronnie with little revelations in her quest for enlightenment and personal fulfillment. In fact, in Bronnie-World, all the people or animals that she encounters are sent as "signs", or to thwart or aid her in some way. At no time does she seem self-aware enough to attempt any in-depth reflection into the possibility that some issues may be caused by her own self-obsessed actions and attitudes, instead she snarks away about the negativity of family and colleagues while cheerfully quoting a patient as saying "Playing the victim is a toxic waste of time that not only repels other people, but also robs the victim of ever knowing true happiness."

3) The book is both repetitive and not deep enough. One would think banging on about certain themes would give the reader more insight, but Bronnie's observations are too banal, or abandoned after a sentence or two (usually in order to go back to her main theme of Me), or simply repeated so often in trite and undeveloped form that the reader glazes over and wishes for a speedy end (to the book). When Bronnie says she isn't going to lecture you, be very afraid. For example, I don't have anything against vegans etc but the assertion that "I was never the kind of vegetarian or vegan who would be overly verbal about it." is dynamited out of the water by Bronnie being overly verbal about it, to the extent I just wanted to eat a steak. Medium rare. Or bacon. Mmmmm bacon....did I tell you I liked bacon? Oh sorry, I got distracted and started talking about me. See, that's EXACTLY how the book jumps around from various subjects and back to Bronnie again. Over and over.....

4) Almost all the palliative patients are extremely wealthy since Bronnie preferred to work with private clients because nursing homes "always brought me down the moment I walked through the door". The private patients had choices in their lives that most people will never have. This doesn't mean their regrets have less value, but it makes the book, and Bronnie's own interests and sympathies, feel slanted towards a certain privileged class and adds to a feeling of being talked down to by a Lady Bountiful type playing at Dalai Lama.

It could have been an interesting book about the dying, or possibly an interesting book about Bronnie, if a good editorial team had assisted with the writing and given the themes some weight and shape. I think Bronnie means well and is honest, but is just too self-centred and clichéd to hold the reader's interest and sympathy. Ah yes, sympathy and empathy again....

Anyone looking for a good read about a troubled woman's quest to "find herself" should maybe try Wild by Cheryl Strayed. Much, much better written.

41 people found this helpful

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Vielleserin

5.0 out of 5 stars Sehr berührendes und zugleich weises Buch

Reviewed in Germany on 5 June 2012

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Ich schreibe diese Rezension, weil ich meine, dass die 3-Sterne-Bewertung meiner Vorrezensentin nebst Kommentar dem Buch nicht gerecht wird. Ich bin froh, dass ich durch diese Rezension nicht vom Kauf des Buches abgehalten worden bin, weil mir das Buch persönlich empfohlen worden ist.

Wie so oft, sagt das, was meine Vorrezensentin schreibt, mehr über sie selbst aus als über das Buch. Ich habe es als außerordentlich wohltuend und vorbildhaft empfunden, dass die Autorin allen Menschen, denen sie begegnet, urteilsfrei und mit einem mitfühlenden Blick gegenüber tritt. Das hat mich sehr berührt. Die wenigsten Menschen haben die Größe, andere so zu akzeptieren und sein zu lassen wie diese sind. Für mich ist die Autorin in dieser Haltung authentisch, und ich bewundere die Autorin dafür. Was die Autorin aber auch zeigt, ist, dass diese Haltung in den Burn-out führt, wenn man nicht gleichzeitig auch mit sich selbst Mitgefühl entwickelt. Mitgefühl mit sich selbst ist gewissermaßen die andere Seite der Medaille des Mitgefühls mit anderen. Wer nicht wirklich urteilsfrei durch die Welt geht und kein umfassendes Mitgefühlt mit anderen entwickeln kann, hat dieses Problem natürlich nicht - und läuft (wenn es an Mitgefühl mangelt) Gefahr, diejenigen zu verurteilen, die in dieses Dilemma hinein schlittern.

Meines Erachtens ist das Buch ein sehr feinfühlig geschriebener Bericht eines spirituellen Lebensweges, der dadurch an Tiefe gewinnt, dass die Erkenntnisse Sterbender auf ihrem Totenbett darüber, was sie am Ende ihres Lebens bereuen, einfließen. Dabei hat das Buch nichts Esoterisches und erst recht nichts Moralisierendes. Es ist erfrischend "down to earth". Am Ende wird die Quintessenz des Buches anhand eines sehr schönen Bildes zusammengefasst: Wir alle sind Glühlampen, die daran gewohnt sind, mit Dreck (wie z. B. abwertenden Urteilen) beworfen und dadurch verdunkelt zu werden. Wer sich daran macht, den Dreck zu entfernen, wird erstaunt sein darüber, welches Licht darunter zum Vorschein kommt. Dabei betont die Autorin immer wieder, dass jeder für seinen eigenen Dreck verantwortlich ist und seinen eigenen Weg gehen muss. Diese Einschätzung teile ich. Deshalb bin ich in diesem Gebiet gegenüber Ratgeber-Büchern, die ja - das liegt in der Natur der Sache - so konzipiert sind, dass da einer ist, der weiß, was gut für andere ist, sehr skeptisch. Lebensberichte und Erfahrungen anderer Menschen sehe ich als Angebote, den eigenen Horizont zu erweitern, und genau das leistet das Buch ganz sicherlich!

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Anurag

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read

Reviewed in India on 23 October 2022

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This is the most amazing book that i have read until now, we must read this book it teaches us a lot about life, about death, about living the life, relationships, etc. A must read for everyone...

2 people found this helpful

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Mahmood

5.0 out of 5 stars BEST BOOK EVER!!!!

Reviewed in the United States on 15 July 2022

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its life changing book, I never thought about the regrets that I might have in the future or when I am on my death bed. This is the time to change to change my life and learn from the dying people, its today or never. I never right a review but this book made me write the review. So if you want to know what are the regrets you might have or NOT , read this book. Bronnie you have done an incredible job in delivering this content to the audience and i salute you for that.

There are so many people in this book that have regrets that also I might have in later in my life too and the writer has showed us the way how to mitigate those regrets now.

5 people found this helpful

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Dyers

2.0 out of 5 stars 20% good material, the rest seemed like fluff

Reviewed in the United States on 23 May 2023

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I bought this book hoping to learn lessons from the dying, that was only a small portion of it. Most of it was fluff from the authors own life and struggles. Her life, inner thoughts and personal struggles were utterly unrelatable to me and so it was difficult to slog through. Her writing isn't bad, if she had cut it down to half the length and shared more lessons from her work with the dying and focused on that, this book would have been much more successful.

One person found this helpful